USA

26 Apr 2023; MEMO: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday that the main reason for violence in the occupied territories is Israel's unilateral measures, international news agencies reported.

In a speech at the UN Security Council meeting on the Palestinian issue, Lavrov said that the main reason for the outbreak of violence is Israel's unilateral measures to create facts on the ground and use force to protect them.

UNITED NATIONS, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Fighting in Sudan is quickly turning an already dire humanitarian crisis into a catastrophe, said UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Joyce Msuya on Tuesday.

What has been unfolding in Sudan since April 15, when clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces broke out, is a nightmare for ordinary citizens and aid workers alike, she told the Security Council in a briefing.

UNITED NATIONS, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Despite a cease-fire, shortages of essentials are becoming acute in Sudan, sending prices soaring while evacuees head for the borders, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.

Authorities reported that a 72-hour cessation of hostilities went into effect midnight Monday and appeared to be mostly holding Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A British tobacco company has agreed to pay more than $629 million to settle allegations that it did illegal business with North Korea in violation of U.S. sanctions, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

British American Tobacco, one of the largest tobacco companies in the world, entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department, while the company’s Singapore subsidiary pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bank fraud and violate sanctions.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia’s top diplomat warned Tuesday that the European Union “is becoming militarized at a record rate” and aggressive in its goal of containing Russia.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference he has no doubts that there is now “very little difference” between the EU and NATO.

Lavrov said they recently signed a declaration, which he said essentially states that the 31-member NATO military alliance will ensure the security of the 27-member EU political and economic organization.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who led her country through a devastating mass shooting, will be temporarily joining Harvard University later this year, Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf said Tuesday.

Ardern, a global icon of the left and an inspiration to women around the world, has been appointed to dual fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School. She will serve as the 2023 Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders Fellow and a Hauser Leader in the school’s Center for Public Leadership beginning this fall.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Geraldine Tyler, now 94, lost her one-bedroom condo in Minneapolis over $2,300 in unpaid taxes, plus interest and penalties. Hennepin County sold the apartment for $40,000 and kept every penny.

Tyler’s lawyers say the county violated constitutional protections against having property taken without “just compensation” and excessive fines. The Supreme Court, which hears arguments Wednesday, will decide.

NEW YORK (AP) — New York prosecutors have asked a judge to bar Donald Trump from using evidence from his criminal case to attack witnesses, citing what they say is the former president’s history of making “harassing, embarrassing, and threatening statements” about people he’s tangled with in legal disputes.

WASHINGTON (AP) — No honking geese are likely to interrupt his speeches this time.

As President Joe Biden seeks a second term, he won’t have to depend on glitchy Zoom connections, or deliver remarks in largely vacant theaters with attendees in chairs ringed by circle markings on the floor to ensure enough social distancing. His advisors won’t scrutinize the 1918 flu outbreak for clues on pandemic-era voting.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A ground assault by the Taliban killed the Islamic State militant who spearheaded the August 2021 suicide bombing at the Kabul airport that left 13 U.S. troops and about 170 Afghans dead during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

Initially, neither the U.S. — nor apparently the Taliban — were aware that the mastermind was dead. He was killed during a series of battles early this month in southern Afghanistan between the Taliban and the Islamic State group’s affiliate, according to several officials.